The Scorpion's Revenge
by Sophie0408
Summary: Luck, Alex Rider decided, was something he desperately lacked. When Scorpia comes barging into Brookland Comprehensive School determined to eliminate their biggest threat, nothing good can come out of it. Post ScorpiaRising.
1. Prologue

**Name: **The Scorpion's Revenge

**Author: **Sophie0408

**Summary: **Luck, Alex Rider decided, was something he desperately lacked. When Scorpia comes barging into Brookland Comprehensive School determined to eliminate their biggest threat, nothing good can come out of it. Post ScorpiaRising.

**A/N:** This fanfic disregards the end of Scorpia Rising. Instead of coming to live with the Pleasures in the US, Alex returns to the UK.

* * *

**Prologue**

Tom Harris was worried.

His best friend Alex Rider had returned from a mission a week ago. It had taken place in Cairo. It hadn't gone well. And Jack was dead. That's all Tom knew.

Alex had been emancipated as Mrs. Jones had decided that it would be easier than finding a guardian. There was no doubt, thought Mrs. Jones as she looked at her best agent sitting in front of her, that the boy could take care of himself. And of course, said boy had had no objections.

Alex had stayed home for two days before going to school. The first day he'd been back, Tom had unsuccessfully tried to refrain himself from asking questions about what had happened. It was a difficult thing to accomplish. After all, it's only natural to wonder what had occurred when your best friend walks into school after a fortnight's absence with multiple bruises and a cold, dead, haunted look in his eyes.

At first, the fact that Alex Rider had returned caused quite a stir in Brookland Comprehensive. Whispers followed him all day, but he ignored them all. Even Tom was looking at him curiously. Luckily, he'd manage to avoid inevitable confrontations all day. Alex wished they'd all leave him alone, but that was not to be. As the bell signalled the end of the day, Tom walked up to him as he was heading towards his bike. It wasn't as if Alex didn't particularly want Tom's presence. Tom's company was nice enough, but his questions weren't…

"Hi Alex" Tom said cautiously looking up at his best friend's blank look.

Alex merely looked at him.

Despite Alex's obvious unwillingness to talk, Tom refused to admit defeat, so he continued.

"So, where did you go this time? I was worried about you."

Something close to emotion passed over Alex's face before it returned to the emotionless state everybody at school saw. Knowing him well, Tom was quite good at reading his emotions, but even he couldn't figure out what it was. Anger? No… Tom didn't think so. Sadness perhaps? But it was deeper than that. Despair? Grief? Guilt? And was that a spark of irritation? All were possibilities.

"Cairo", came the curt reply.

"Ah… I see…" But Tom didn't see. What on Earth could have happened to make Alex look so … empty? And then, suddenly, it hit him. The only time he'd his friend look anything close to that was when he had returned from his mission with his traitor of a Godfather. Had somebody betrayed him?

"Err… Is everything alright with you?" Tom dreaded the answer slightly.

Alex paused for a moment before answering. "Yes."

"Ah…"

'_Nope'_, Tom thought. _'His reaction wasn't the same as it was last time… So, not a betrayal. What then?'_

The conversation was quickly becoming awkward. Tom was desperately trying to find something to talk about to break the tension.

"So… How's Jack?"

Tom immediately knew he had said something wrong. As the emotionless mask started to slip, he glimpsed the pain Alex was feeling. Tom had never seen such an expression of pain on his friend's face before and it unnerved him greatly.

Alex was battling with his emotions. He refused to let anybody see his weakness. His carefully positioned facial expressions betrayed him as Tom asked about Jack.

_Jack…_

He had tried his hardest not to think about her this last week, but it was too much for him. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the explosion of the car. Again… and again… Every night he woke up screaming, the nightmares getting worse each time. On a good day he got three hours sleep - four if he was lucky. But lack of sleep was the least of his worries. Alex missed Jack. It was as simple as that. The house – not home, with Jack gone it didn't feel remotely like home any longer – served as a constant reminder of what he had lost. It was all his fault. If only he hadn't been so stupid she might still be alive.

Alex shook himself. Now was not the time to dwell on it. He turned his back to his friend, unlocked his bike and got on it, resolved not to let anything happen to the few people close to him again. He couldn't take this return to normal life. All it did was hurt him as everything reminded him of his sister in all but blood.

"Dead…" he croaked, emotion constricting his throat.

That said, he pushed hard against the pedals and steered the bike towards the main gates effectively leaving his friend in the dust.

Little did Tom know that he wouldn't see his friend for a whole year.

* * *

Tulip Jones sat by her desk and read over one of the numerous files that had amassed in the time it had taken for Alan Blunt to leave and her to claim his office.

As she turned over the page, the intercom sitting on her desk buzzed and the voice of her assistant came through it.

"Alex Rider to see you, ma'am. He's asking for a meeting."

Mrs. Jones paused for a moment, puzzled. What could Alex possibly want? He had been there three days ago for a debriefing. Sighing, she pressed her finger down on the button that would allow her to reply.

"Send him in."


	2. Chapter 1

**Name: **The Scorpion's Revenge

**Author: **Sophie0408

**Summary: **Luck, Alex Rider decided, was something he desperately lacked. When Scorpia comes barging into Brookland Comprehensive School determined to eliminate their biggest threat, nothing good can come out of it. Post ScorpiaRising.

**A/N:** Thanks for all the follows/favourites/reviews! It's really nice to have your work appreciated :). This chapter's pretty short, but I don't want to jump straight into the action. Tell me if the chapters should be longer.

Next chapter will be Alex's return to school. If you have an opinion as to how the school (and most importantly Tom) should react to his reappearance I'd love to hear it.

So, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter One**

**The SAS**

"Cub!"

The call made Alex Rider turn around, his duffel bag slamming into his hip in the process. The impact of the heavy bag made the teenager stumble slightly before he looked up and saw the man who had called his name.

Sam Andrews, more commonly known as Eagle, was walking towards him. He made a very imposing figure: a large blond man with massive muscles clearly visible in the navy SAS uniform, but the smile lines around his eyes betrayed his humorous character. Alex was very fond of Eagle; the man never failed to make him laugh.

"Smooth move, Mr. Bond," snorted Eagle.

Alex smiled sheepishly at his fellow K-unit member and friend. He turned and continued walking up the hill towards the main gates of the SAS training camp where a black Mercedes-Benz was waiting with the engine running.

Eagle caught up with him before he reached the car.

"When will you be back?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," Alex replied. "I still have two years of school left and Mrs. Jones wants me to finish my education. Not that it's going to do me any good seeing as the tutors she got me already taught me everything they had time to this year."

Eagle snorted again, remembering the many nights Alex had come back to the barracks muttering something about brain turning to mush from an overload of information and passed out on his bed. Not even a bullhorn could have woken him up; Wolf and Eagle had tried as Snake fretted about the risk of loud noises damaging the eardrums.

"Do you know where you'll be staying in London?"

"Probably my uncle's old house in Chelsea. It's close to school and there's no point complicating things by finding another place."

A comfortable silence fell upon the two as they reached the car. Alex opened the boot of the car and put his bag into it before slamming it shut again. Turning to his older brother-in-arms, he smiled a little sadly.

"I'll see you around, Eagle."

"Yeah, see you soon, Cub. Stay safe."

And with those words, Alex slid into the back seat of the car and greeted the driver. The gravel crunched as the car pulled out of Brecon Beacons.

* * *

The year Alex Rider had spent with the SAS had done him a lot of good. When he had first arrived, he had been distant and shut off. However, being placed with K-unit had been very beneficial for the teenager. Wolf, Eagle and Snake had been a member down due to Fox's recruitment to MI6 and, while awkward at first, the three older unit members had eventually started seeing Cub as their little brother. A very dangerous and skilled little brother perhaps, but a little brother none-the-less. The unit had helped train the new recruits and were respected throughout the camp.

Alex's decision of asking Mrs. Jones to let him join the SAS was one he considered as the best of his life. The woman had been understandably surprised when she heard his demand, but had agreed that he needed time to work through his grief. After all, it wouldn't be useful to have an emotionally driven agent in the field. He'd make more mistakes and most likely end up dead.

When K-unit had seen how broken Alex was when he arrived, they had made it their mission to heal him. None of the three men liked to fail and were quite proud to say that they had succeeded. Not that they would dare speak of it to anybody else – the price of Cub getting his revenge was to high a price to pay for bragging. They had learned this the hard way when Wolf had let slip to Mrs. Jones that Alex was no longer crying in his sleep. Wolf had spent a whole month being mercilessly pranked. It was not something he wished to experience ever again.

Alex had come to terms with Jack's death, and even though it still pained him to think about her, he had accepted her death and moved on. The nightmares had stopped once he had managed to talk to Wolf, Eagle and Snake about what had happened in the last year. They had been horrified at first, and then very proud of their Cub for managing to complete all these missions.

Within half a year of being with the SAS, Alex Rider was officially healed. This made K-unit very happy and the Sergeant considerably less so. After all, the boy did have a knack for causing trouble.

The Sergeant's fear proved to be well founded. Brecon Beacons transformed from being a training camp where the soon-to-be SAS soldiers were whipped into shape to a training camp where the soon-to-be SAS soldiers were teased and pranked into shape. And although hearing 'tough' soldiers squealing like little piglets when they woke up to a high-powered hose sprayed into their faces never failed to bring a smile to the Sergeant's face, the fact that the pranks were often directed towards him was too high a price to pay.

Therefore, it was only natural that the Sergeant had to exert every ounce of self-control he had to stop himself doing a happy dance when he learned that the spawn of the devil would be leaving. Granted, the members of K-unit were Cub's accomplices and were also involved in torturing everybody in camp, but without the Brat, Brecon Beacons should be a little calmer. _Thank God_, the Sergeant thought as he watched the sleek black car drive away on the CCTV cameras.

Life, K-unit had decided, would be very dull in the Welsh SAS training camp without Cub.


End file.
